That said, if the random hand of chance selects the correct guidebook in my collection, I may well end up writing about an item I picked up last year which nearly killed me thanks to *how* it had been damaged
It does indeedit is referred to in the text as the Hyena and Bear Dens, and the following taxa are listed:
Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena)
Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
European Brown Bear (Ursus arctos arctos)
Syrian Brown Bear (Ursus arctos syriacus)
Tibetan Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus thibetanus)
Japanese Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus japonicus)
Malayan Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus)
Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus)
Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)
European Wolf (Canis lupus lupus)
Timber Wolf (Canis lupus occidentalis)
There is also mention of a bear pit (map entry 14) which held further European Brown Bear along with American Black Bear.
As much as all of London Zoo's history fascinates me, some buildings have caught my attention more than others, such as the Carnivore Terrace, North Mammal House, and the Clore. 
The 1876 London Zoo guide provides similar information about the inhabitants of the Western Aviary to that TLD quotes from the 1877 guide.
Day 5 - WWT Washington (1979) - Red-breasted Geese
Page count: 50 (including interior of front and rear covers)
Photographs: 36 (8 in colour)
Illustrations/diagrams: c.30 images throughout body of guidebook, including fold-out central spread in colour
Layout: Summary of collection, followed by general discussion of waterfowl taxonomy, behaviour and conservation, concluding in discussion of the nature reserves managed by WWT.
Map: Included as part of body of guidebook
At just under nine miles away from where I am currently sitting, the Washington site of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust has a fairly decent claim to the title of being my "home" collection, although I visit far less often than I would like, given how difficult it is to reach by public transport. I have always had a soft spot for the various captive collections managed by the WWT, given my particular interest in waterfowl, the opportunities for viewing wild birds in relaxing settings, and the genuine and often-significant conservational importance of the Trust as a whole; the Washington site was perhaps unsurprisingly the first I visited, and in point of fact, for a long time it was one of the few zoological collections that I *had* visited. One may recall that I was something of a late-bloomer where zoo enthusiasm is concerned, and only started visiting collections in earnest in my early twenties! Washington was one of a swathe of such collections opened by the Trust in the mid-1970s, alongside Arundel, Martin Mere and Peakirk, all of which followed the model established by Slimbridge of housing a captive collection within a larger area of wetland and nature reserve; around this time, the Trust also established a pair of wetland reserves which lacked any captive component, at Caerlaverock in Scotland, and Welney in Norfolk.
Over the years I have accumulated a reasonably-substantial collection of the various guides released by the half-dozen or so captive collections managed by the WWT; although generally relatively short, and issued less-and-less often in recent years, they tend towards being some of the best quality guidebooks released by UK collections in terms of content and production. Those guidebooks issued by the Trust in the 1970s followed a standardised layout; they start with a general introduction to the Wildfowl Trust written by Sir Peter Scott, after which a map and walkthrough account of the specific site in question opens the guidebook proper.
In this particular case, then, the guidebook starts by giving a brief summary of the location and history of the Washington site, going on to describe the visitor centre, the central captive collection and secondary pens and enclosures, before devoting several pages to the various ponds, lakes, wetland areas and managed woodlands of the wider nature reserve. Although only covering a total of eight pages to WWT Washington itself, the level of detail is rather satisfactory - especially when one considers that (unlike some of the other WWT collections) Washington represented an area of wetland reserve created specifically by and for the Trust which had not existed previously, and therefore was very much in a state of flux and development at the time this particular edition of the guidebook was released.
After this point, the bulk of the guidebook is more-or-less identical between editions issued at the various sites, discussing the various groups of waterfowl recognised at the time (swans, geese, diving ducks, sea ducks, dabbling ducks and so forth, along with groups such as flamingos and screamers) before moving onto topics such as the educational, conservation and research work undertaken by the Trust, the day-to-day behaviour of wildfowl species, and in-depth discussion of the migratory populations of wildfowl recorded throughout the British Isles and surrounding regions of northwest Europe and the North Atlantic.
Perhaps the highlight of this section - present, as noted, in all guidebooks issued by the Trust at this time regardless of which particular site it focused on - is a rather excellent fold-out painted comparative diagram presenting every species of swan, goose and duck recognised at the time in full colour, using artwork by Sir Peter Scott. This diagram was far too large and unwieldy to scan as a single image, so what follows is a low-quality photograph showing the entire diagram as it looks when folded out, along with a high-quality scan of one section for the purposes of illustration:
View attachment 525204
The Trust guidebooks of the time then concluded with short guides to the pair of Trust-managed wetlands at Welney and Caerlaverock, followed by maps showing the location of the various centres open to the public around the UK, and general information promoting membership of the Trust.
Overall then, a relatively short guidebook but a very pleasant and well-presented one; certainly these guidebooks are enough of a pleasure to read and own that I have (as previously noted) gone to some lengths to assemble a fairly large collection of them despite the fact that they tend to differ only slightly from site to site, and from edition to edition - especially where these 1970s editions are concerned. To be honest, they are worth owning for the central image spread alone, to the point that I do recommend that any zoo enthusiast with an interest in both guidebooks and waterfowl aim to add at least *one* of these 1970s WWT guidebooks to their collection!
The floor, then, is open for any questions and feedback anyone may have! I would be rather interested, for example, to hear how many other UK Zoochatters have managed to get up to my neck of the woods and visit this collection
It's the youth of today. Back in my day I had to walk nine miles just to get to where my mum kept the shoeboxes I had to wear on feet in order to start walking to school.
it's sorely needed, and long-overdue!
I may not mind walking fairly long distances to reach or travel around a zoological collection (my record being 32km in a day) but even I balk at walking along some of the roads required!
View attachment 525295
There has been talk of improving bus services into the Washington area of Tyne and Wear for years now, or even extending the Metro suburban rail lines to serve the area
Day 5 - WWT Washington (1979) - Red-breasted Geese
Page count: 50 (including interior of front and rear covers)
Photographs: 36 (8 in colour)
Illustrations/diagrams: c.30 images throughout body of guidebook, including fold-out central spread in colour
Layout: Summary of collection, followed by general discussion of waterfowl taxonomy, behaviour and conservation, concluding in discussion of the nature reserves managed by WWT.
Map: Included as part of body of guidebook
At just under nine miles away from where I am currently sitting, the Washington site of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust has a fairly decent claim to the title of being my "home" collection, although I visit far less often than I would like, given how difficult it is to reach by public transport. I have always had a soft spot for the various captive collections managed by the WWT, given my particular interest in waterfowl, the opportunities for viewing wild birds in relaxing settings, and the genuine and often-significant conservational importance of the Trust as a whole; the Washington site was perhaps unsurprisingly the first I visited, and in point of fact, for a long time it was one of the few zoological collections that I *had* visited. One may recall that I was something of a late-bloomer where zoo enthusiasm is concerned, and only started visiting collections in earnest in my early twenties! Washington was one of a swathe of such collections opened by the Trust in the mid-1970s, alongside Arundel, Martin Mere and Peakirk, all of which followed the model established by Slimbridge of housing a captive collection within a larger area of wetland and nature reserve; around this time, the Trust also established a pair of wetland reserves which lacked any captive component, at Caerlaverock in Scotland, and Welney in Norfolk.
Over the years I have accumulated a reasonably-substantial collection of the various guides released by the half-dozen or so captive collections managed by the WWT; although generally relatively short, and issued less-and-less often in recent years, they tend towards being some of the best quality guidebooks released by UK collections in terms of content and production. Those guidebooks issued by the Trust in the 1970s followed a standardised layout; they start with a general introduction to the Wildfowl Trust written by Sir Peter Scott, after which a map and walkthrough account of the specific site in question opens the guidebook proper.
In this particular case, then, the guidebook starts by giving a brief summary of the location and history of the Washington site, going on to describe the visitor centre, the central captive collection and secondary pens and enclosures, before devoting several pages to the various ponds, lakes, wetland areas and managed woodlands of the wider nature reserve. Although only covering a total of eight pages to WWT Washington itself, the level of detail is rather satisfactory - especially when one considers that (unlike some of the other WWT collections) Washington represented an area of wetland reserve created specifically by and for the Trust which had not existed previously, and therefore was very much in a state of flux and development at the time this particular edition of the guidebook was released.
After this point, the bulk of the guidebook is more-or-less identical between editions issued at the various sites, discussing the various groups of waterfowl recognised at the time (swans, geese, diving ducks, sea ducks, dabbling ducks and so forth, along with groups such as flamingos and screamers) before moving onto topics such as the educational, conservation and research work undertaken by the Trust, the day-to-day behaviour of wildfowl species, and in-depth discussion of the migratory populations of wildfowl recorded throughout the British Isles and surrounding regions of northwest Europe and the North Atlantic.
Perhaps the highlight of this section - present, as noted, in all guidebooks issued by the Trust at this time regardless of which particular site it focused on - is a rather excellent fold-out painted comparative diagram presenting every species of swan, goose and duck recognised at the time in full colour, using artwork by Sir Peter Scott. This diagram was far too large and unwieldy to scan as a single image, so what follows is a low-quality photograph showing the entire diagram as it looks when folded out, along with a high-quality scan of one section for the purposes of illustration:
View attachment 525204
The Trust guidebooks of the time then concluded with short guides to the pair of Trust-managed wetlands at Welney and Caerlaverock, followed by maps showing the location of the various centres open to the public around the UK, and general information promoting membership of the Trust.
Overall then, a relatively short guidebook but a very pleasant and well-presented one; certainly these guidebooks are enough of a pleasure to read and own that I have (as previously noted) gone to some lengths to assemble a fairly large collection of them despite the fact that they tend to differ only slightly from site to site, and from edition to edition - especially where these 1970s editions are concerned. To be honest, they are worth owning for the central image spread alone, to the point that I do recommend that any zoo enthusiast with an interest in both guidebooks and waterfowl aim to add at least *one* of these 1970s WWT guidebooks to their collection!
The floor, then, is open for any questions and feedback anyone may have! I would be rather interested, for example, to hear how many other UK Zoochatters have managed to get up to my neck of the woods and visit this collection
Do you need to pass the eye of Sauron too?
so I look forward to seeing what everyone following this thread makes of it!
Getting ahead here, but seeing you have guidebooks from Singapore i wonder did you have Jurong's, and would they do things similarly or not (at least in the birds)Day 6 - Weltvogelpark Walsrode (2003) - Sunda Wrinkled Hornbill
Page count: 162 (including several pages of advertisments at rear, interspersed with index)
Photographs: c.260, including c.30 full page or double-page images.
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Brief photographic walkthrough, followed by around 100 pages discussing the various bird species held in the collection variously classified by family or order.
Map: Located on fold-out inside rear cover.
We have already taken a look at guidebooks from three locations - Zoo Berlin, Tierpark Berlin and London Zoo - which one could reasonably term the keystones of my guidebook collection; that is to say, zoological collections whose guidebooks are of sufficient quality and interest to me that I have made a conscious effort to obtain as comprehensive a collection as possible. However, there is one final collection which more than qualifies for this honour - and it is a guidebook from said collection that I find myself discussing today. My first two or three Walsrode guides were obtained at the Zoohistorica event held at Bristol Zoo in 2013 - of which I have already spoken in this thread, and doubtless shall again - and were certainly among the most visually appealing and interesting items I picked up that weekend. Slowly, over the following years, I started to pick up more and more guidebooks for the collection - but my interest in *actively* seeking out guidebooks from the collection only really started to gather pace after I finally managed to visit the collection in person. Several of the Walsrode guidebooks which I may well end up discussing in this thread at some point or another have interesting stories or anecdotes connected to them as regards how they fell into my hands; several others are particularly interesting or significant in their own right, for some reason or another. This particular edition is nothing remarkable in those regards, but even so, it is still an extremely good guidebook, as I intend to demonstrate anon.
The guidebook opens with an attractive and appealingly-presented photographic walkthrough of the collection, with over a dozen double-page montages of images from the collection, with each montage accompanied by a paragraph or so on a particular aspect of Walsrode, from attractions such as the Paradieshalle and Tropenwaldhalle, the Papageienhaus, and the various restaurants on-site, all the way to discussing more unusual highlights - such as the vast array of rhododendrons adorning the collection throughout the late spring, or the bird cage museum which was present at Walsrode at the time. This segment of the guidebook concludes with a double-page potted summary of the history of the collection, from when it opened in 1958, throughout the following decades - highlighting the construction of key exhibits and structures where appropriate - and concluding by giving key details about the state of Walsrode at the time of publication; for instance, noting that the collection held over 4,600 individual birds representing around 800 distinct taxa!
However, the twin highlights of this segment of the guidebook are indisputably the pair of double-page photographs which it is book-ended by; and which I have similarly used to book-end this portion of my post. First, as can be seen above, one of the first things one is met with on opening the guidebook and proceeding beyond the contents page is a wonderful aerial image of the central hub of Walsrode; this really does demonstrate how attractive the collection really is, I think, as does the double-page image which closes this opening segment of the guidebook - a montage showing the vast variety of flowers which, in the height of summer, make Walsrode almost as much a botanical garden as it is a bird-focused zoological collection, thick with the smell of flowers and vegetation, and the sound of bees.
Beyond this point, the guidebook enters into what one could call the main body of the text, methodically discussing each and every major group of birds held at the collection, illustrating each with vivid colour photographs depicting particular highlights; something which, if one is not able to read German, or at the very least understand and recognise the German common names for a wide variety of bird species, is rather useful given the fact that not only does this guidebook contain no English text (not particularly unusual, to be honest) but moreover it also omits any mention of scientific names for any of the bird species under discussion, which is rather less commonplace!
Even when one considers that this guidebook was published less than 20 years ago, it is nonetheless remarkable to notice how many of the species highlighted within are now either no longer kept in European collections whatsoever (Sickle-billed Vanga, Pompadour Cotinga and Javan Trogon to name but a few), are on the brink of being lost (Harpy Eagle and Horned Guan) or *have* been lost and have since returned to European aviculture (for instance Greater Bird-of-Paradise and Bulwer's Pheasant) - as I may well discuss in the future, earlier guidebooks from the collection are even more striking in this regard. Overall, though, the key thing that must be said for this segment of the guidebook is that it comprehensively covers the vast array of avian diversity which made - and still makes - Walsrode such an impressive collection, and something of a pilgrimage for many European zoo enthusiasts with even a passing interest in birds, does so with a lavish amount of detail and photographic illustration, and really does push this guidebook (along with the other guidebooks issued by the collection) into the highest tier of zoo literature produced by a European collection.
Beyond this point, a detailed index to all of the bird species and families directly mentioned in the main text follows, interspersed by a number of commercial adverts ranging from promotion of local hotels and nearby zoological collections, to iced coffee and beer! Finally, on the inside back cover of the guidebook a rather excellent map of the collection is presented in fold-out format, illustrated both by a numerical key to particular exhibits and small drawings of key bird species.
As I may well discuss at greater length at another point in this thread, the fact that (unlike the two Berlin collections) Walsrode still releases guidebooks on a semi-regular basis to the present day is something to be lauded, as is the fact their guidebooks continue to be as good now as they always have been. However, even if this were *not* the case, it would still remain true that this particular guidebook is a very high-quality item, and one which would enrich the collection of any zoo enthusiast with an interest in collecting zoo guides.
Given how popular Walsrode is among the zoo enthusiast community even now, and the wide variety of unusual and appealing species held by the collection both at the time this guidebook was published and in the present day, I rather suspect that there is a wide scope for discussion and questions to be posed about this item
